Closet.



IVI. & J. CARLUCCI.

CLOSET.

APPucATIoN FILED APR.24. 1915.

Patented Apr. 25,1916.

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Z g IBIIVENTOR MICHAEL CARLUCCI .AND JOSEPH CARDUCCI, 0F NEWARK, NEWJERSEY.

CLOSET.

Application filed April 24, 1915.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that we, MICHAEL GARLUCGI and JOSEPH CARLUcci, citizens ofthe United States, and residents of Newark, county of Essex, and Stateof New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful improvements inClosets, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improved closet that is adapted for manypurposes, but is particularly useful for securely holding and protectinggoods deposited by tradesmen in apartments, flats, houses, and the like,being freely accessible to the tradesmen before the goods are depositedin the closet, but being inaccessible by reason of the door of thecloset used by the tradesmen being locked by the weight of the goods.The invention provides a closet of this kind that can be used fordepositing bottles of milk or other merchandise, the goods being safeagainst theft after they are deposited and the'dooris shut. The

Vmerchandise is removed when desired by either a key-operated means orby a door other than the door through which the merchandise wasdelivered to the closet. The closet is also adapted for installation ina partition or wall and in this case the door through which the goodsare delivered is preferably on one side of the closet, say, in a hall orvestibule, and the door through which the goods are removed is in thekitchen or other room so that it will not be ecessary to go outside toget the merchanise.

The closet can be made of any size desired and to hold more than onearticle of merchandise, but it is particularly adapted for holdingbottled material, the bottle or other goods resting on a platform and byits weight moving a latch to its operative position so that when thedoor through which the goods was introduced is moved to its closedposition it is held by the latch and cannot be opened from the outside.The goods is thus held against removal unless the latch is operated byeither a suitable releasing mechanism or by the removal of the goodsfrom the platform, the latter being possible by means of a door otherthan the door through which the goods was introduced, and when soremoved a yielding means, such as a spring or weight operates toinovethe latch to its inoperative position,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 25, 19116.

Serial No. 23,645.

and the door through which the goods was introduced is again ready to beopened.

The invention is illustrated. in the accompanying drawing which embodiesone form of our invention, but it will be evident that changes can bemade in the arrangements ofthe parts and also in their proportion andoperation without departing from the scope of the invention.

In the drawing Figure 1 is a face view of the invention with the door onthe side toward the observer being swung open so that .it is viewed fromits edge. Fig. 2 is a section on line 2 2 in Fig. l, andFig. 3 is asection on line 3--3 in Fig. 1.

In the form of invention illustrated in the drawing, which, however, asstatedbefore, can be changed to meet different con ditions for differentpurposes, we have made the closet of a casing that is adapted forinstallation in a wall or partition so that it can be placed between twocompartments or rooms or between a hall and a room so that it isaccessible from two different sides, although it will be understood thatif desired the case can be made so that it is opened only from the sideon which the d oor for introducing the merchandise is situated. The formof case shown comprises frames 10 which form` the frame of the casingvand also provide frames on which the doors are mounted, the frames 10being` connected and serving to support the shell 11 which can be madeof sheet metal'and fastened bysuit able fastening means, such as screwsor rivets 1:2, to the frame 10. The frames as illustrated project beyondthe shell 11 `and thus act to hold the closet in place in a wall, aswill be readily understood. The frames are preferably cutaway as at 13and l/lto provide openings for doors, one of said doors 15 being, forthe purpose of identification, called the first door. This door is theone through which merchandise is .introduced into the closet and isadapted to be normally swung open without hindrance when merchandise orgoods is not in place, and to prevent the door from being opened byaccident or drafts it is provided with a spring 16, this spring having atendency to swing the door shut. rlhe door is hinged as at 17 and can beprovided with any suitable form of handle 18. To lock the door in itsclosed position we employ a latch, and

the latch shown in the type of closet illustrated in the drawingcomprises a pivoted arm 19 which is weighted at one end as at 20 so asto lower that end and to raise the hooked end 21, since the arm ispivoted at 22 to the side of the easing. The hooked end 21, when swungdownward, is adapted to engage an engaging means 23, in the type shownthis being in the form of a hook fastened to the inside of the door 15.

We place a partition 24 in the casing to form two differentcompartments, and while this partition 24 is not essential, it ispreferable, since it prevents any tampering with the latch mechanism, asit incloses such latch mechanism which is in the compartment 25, thepartition 24 having a front wall 26 bent around at the front andprovided with an opening` 27 through which the hook end 21 of the latchand the engaging means 23 of the door can operate. The lower part of thecasing is also inclosed by means of a sheet forming a floor 28 and theside walls 29, this floor extending underneath the compartment 25 inwhich the latch mechanisml is placed, and also beneath the compartment30 in which the merchandise is deposited. The merchandise is placed on asuitable platform, in the form shown the goods-receiving platform 31being placed near the bottom of the compartment 30 and being mounted ona lever 32 which is pivoted aspat 33 in the bearings 34 and extendsbeyond said pivot, being pivoted as at 35 to the lower end of the bar36, the bar V36 eX- tending up through an opening 37 in the floor 28,the bar having its upper end mounted in a suitable bearing 38 so that itcan slide. The bar has an extension 39 on the side thereof, whichextension is slotted as at 40. The arm 19 is placed in the slot 40 andis thus moved up or down with the bar 36,' as will be evident.

A suitable yielding means is provided for normally moving the latch toits inoperative position, which yielding means also overcomes the weightof the goods-receiving platform 31, such yielding or spring means beingsuitably disposed, the yielding means that is shown consisting of aweight 41 mounted on a spindle 42 projecting from the bar 36, theweight, if desired, having any suitable form of transfer slot so that itcan be removed and interchanged with one of a diferent weight.

It will thus be evident that with the parts in the position shown inFigs. 1 and 2 the door 15 can be opened by a tradesman, since the hookedend 21 of the latch is swung up out of .its operative position by reasonof the weighted end 20 descending, this being permitted by the weight 41pressing the bar 36 downward so as to lower the slot 40 and allow thearm 19 to thus have its weighted end descend. If, however, merchandiseis placed on the goods-receiving platform 31, the weight of themerchandise pushes down on the platform and thus pushes up on the otherend of the lever 32, the bar 36 is raised and the latch is then in theposition shown in dotted outline in Fig. 2, the arm 19 having itsweighted end pushed upward and its hooked end 21 forced down so that itis in the path of the engaging means 23 when the door 15 is moved to itsclosed position either by the spring 16 or by the tradesman. When thedoor is moved shut. the curved front 43 of the engaging means 23 engagesa similarly curved or tapered front on the hooked end 21 and the hookedend is swung up far enough to allow it to pass over the top edge of thehook or engaging means 23, and the hooked end 21 and the engaging means23 being in hooked or grasping position, the door 15 is thus held sothat it cannot be opened.

To provide for the removal of the merchandise from the closet we mayprovide either a key-operated unlocking means for the latch or a seconddoor to give access to the compartmentin which the merchandise has beendeposited. In the form shown the second door 44 is hinged as at 45 tothe casing and is provided with any suitable form of latch 46 having ahandle 47 thereon, the latch having a tongue 48 to engage an opening ina lock plate 49. This second door is shown in the drawing as being onthe side opposite the door 15, but it will be readily understood thatthis door can be placed on a side at right angles to the door 15 or itcan be a door that is large enough to only uncover the compartment 30and not eX- tend across the compartment 25, these matters being of minorimportance and being adapted to be changed to suit differentcircumstances and requirements.

It will be obvious that the type of closet shown, when placed into apartition, for instance between a hall and a kitchen, will have the door15 in the hall and the door 44 in the kitchen. When the door 15 isopened from the hallway the tradesman can place merchandise, such as abottle of milk, on the platform 31 and then close the door 15 and thedoor is then locked in its closed position. When the door 44 in thekitchen is opened the goods can be removed from the closet and it is notnecessary to go outside in order to get the merchandise. When the door44 is in closed position and the door 15 is opened, the door 44 cannotbe opened from the inside of the casing and there is no possibility ofentrance being gained to an apartment through the closet, even if thecloset is large and is adapted to hold large articles of merchandise.

The closet is not expensive to make, is positive in its operation andprovides a means for guarding against the theft of goods between thetime of their delivery and the time when they come into the hands of theparty for whom they are intended, and also enables goods to be left atthe homes of people who are temporarily absent, being, if desired, madelarge enough to receive groceries or other forms of merchandise of aweight sufficient to force the latch to its closed or operativeposition.

Having thus described our invention, we claim:

l. A closet, a false ioor above its bottom, an upright partitiondividing the space above said false floor into a latch compartment and agoods receiving compartment, a door for the closet giving access to saidgoods compartment and having a latch memll" ber thereon, a depressibleplatform in the bottom of the goods compartment, a lever pivoted beneathsaid false floor and on which said platform is supported, a latch insaid latch compartment, means of connection between said lever and latchwhereby the latch is brought into coperation with the latch member onthe door on depression of the platform, and a weight in said latchcompartment and serving normally to keep the platform and latch out ofoperative position.

2. A closet, a door therefor having a latch member thereon, a pivotedlatch, a vertically arranged slide bar having means for engaging andturning said latch on its pivot, a weight removably mounted on saidslide bar, a platform pivoted at the lower part of the closet, and meansof connection between said bar and platform and whereby the weightserves to hold said platform up and the latch out of operative positionwith respect to the latch member on the door, the latch being moved tooperative position when the platform is depressed by an object placedthereon.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing, We have hereunto set ourhands, this 22nd day of April, 1915.

MICHAEL CARLUCCI. JOSEPH CARLUCCI.

@oplet of thlla patent may he obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner or lt'atents, Waahington, U."

